Photos: 12 foods that are bad for the planet

Want to ensure you’re buying, and eating, Earth-friendly food? Click through the photo gallery to find out some of the worst culprits to avoid at the supermarket.

istock
/ The Province

Fast food: Fast-food meals often come with overly packaged food, straws and plasticware, and an assortment of individually wrapped condiments. According to one estimate, less than 35 per cent of fast-food waste is diverted from landfills even though most of it is recyclable. Studies have pointed to fast-food restaurants as the primary source of urban litter. BEN STANSALL
/ AFP/Getty Images

Meat: According to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization, 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock, more than from transportation. In the Amazon, 70 per cent of once forested land has been cleared for cattle pasture. Livestock are the world’s biggest source of water pollution. Livestock contribute to a third of the nitrogen and phosphorus in U.S. freshwater resources. If you’re a carnivore, you may want to cut your consumption of meat, especially red meat. Your body will thank you, too. Jeff McIntosh
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Some seafoods: The U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization says that 70 per cent of the world's fisheries are fully or overly exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse. For example, bluefin tuna (above) and Atlantic salmon are severely overfished. Seafood consumers can protect ocean and lake species by only buying sustainable seafood. Organizations, such as SeaChoice in Canada, provide the public with guides to sustainable seafood choices. Visit: www.seachoice.orgJose Luis Roca
/ AFP/Getty Images

Packaged and processed food: The majority of the food you'll find in the grocery store is processed and packaged, which is bad news for the planet. These foods of often involve energy-intensive production processes. Plus, the packaging usually ends up in landfills. Instead, buy local, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and buy foods a from bulk bins. Monkey Business
/ Fotolia.com

Much non-local food: Many people eat local for its freshness or to support their community. However, the biggest benefit of local food is that it cuts fossil fuel consumption used to transport it to the grocery store. Ricardo DeAratanha
/ MCT

High-fructose corn syrup foods: This food product damages the environment in several ways. Corn is grown as a monoculture, thereby depleting soil nutrients, causing erosion and requiring more pesticides and fertilizer. The use of such chemicals contributes to problems like the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an ocean area where nothing can survive because the water is starved of oxygen. As well, processing corn into high-fructose corn syrup is an energy-intensive practice. AP Photo/Nati Harnik

Bottled water: This product wastes fossil fuels in its production and transport. And about 75 per cent of the plastic bottles end up in our landfills, lakes, streams and oceans. Wayne Cuddington
/ Ottawa Citizen

Sugar: Sugar is produced on a massive scale worldwide. The World Wildlife Fund says agriculture devoted to sugar may be responsible for more biodiversity loss than any other crop. It requires intensive use of water and pesticides. Polluted wastewater is a byproduct of the production process. NELSON ALMEIDA
/ AFP/Getty Images

Many nonorganic foods: Organic produce is grown without pesticides, which keeps chemicals from getting into the water supply. According to a study by The Rodale Institute, organic farming uses 30 per cent less energy and water than regular growing. Not all produce needs to be bought organic, say some environmentalists, just those crops in which non-organic farming is especially damaging. ASP Inc
/ Fotolia.com

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